You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was readying for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was meant as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Later next release, Living My Best Life, was released in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.
She offers me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘What’s happening?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.
We’re at a photography studio in London. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “They used to call me that!” She smiles. She is sharp-witted, bold and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. During performances I basically roast the fans.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the ceremony when she found a lump. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just marched with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “uneven. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a rough time. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”
Previous Struggles
Cornish is accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning featuring in the London theater in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and teenage Jess has joined the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
